The forgotten tablet: Sony Xperia Tablet S

Sony is a manufacturer with a portfolio rich in diverse products. From televisions to the PlayStation and from smartphones to audio products. In the past they have also released tablets; such as the Xperia Tablet S. We discuss it today in ‘The forgotten tablet’.

Sony Xperia Tablet S

The Sony Xperia Tablet S appeared on the market in 2012 as a successor to the Xperia Tablet, and we also saw it in the Netherlands. Most striking was the design of this tablet. The design was inspired by a folded magazine, in which a metal housing was chosen. Where many brands opted for a 10.1 inch screen, the Xperia Tablet S remained with a 9.4 inch panel. An LCD screen with a resolution of (only) 800 x 1280 pixels, and therefore no Full-HD resolution. Compared to the predecessor, the Tablet S got a thinner and lighter design, there was an improved camera and the processor also performed faster.

Sony provided the Xperia Tablet S with a slot for a memory card and the device was also available as a 3G model. Charging was done via the Sony connection and there was also the option to connect a headset via the 3.5 millimeter connection. Let’s talk about the own Sony connection; you could also use the HDMI functionality through a special adapter. Thanks to the infrared port on the tablet, you could also use the device as a remote control.

Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich was available on the tablet. This version of Android was adapted by Sony with its own Xperia interface. Later, an update to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean was released for the Sony Xperia Tablet S. The drive was done with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, which came with 1GB of RAM and 16, 32 or 64GB of internal storage. There was an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, or a 1 megapixel front camera. The battery capacity was 6000 mAh.

There were several applications available on the Xperia Tablet S. Anyway, because you had access to the Android Market, but there were also applications from the factory. For example, there was a Scrapbook app, which allows you to create scrapbooks with notes, doodles and more. Books could be shared as PNG image. You could also take screenshots via Clip, crop them and perform edits on them.

In the promotions, Sony used the text ‘splash-proof’. However, a manufacturing defect was later discovered between the screen and the housing. This ensured that the tablet was no longer waterproof. The sale was then discontinued. A recall was issued and sales resumed. Sony released the Xperia Tablet S for 399 euros.

Sony Xperia Tablet S summarized in 3 points

• Design inspired by magazine
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 9.4 inch LCD screen